I was born in Ely,
Nevada and my parents hailed from Park City and Bingham, Utah,
so perhaps I was destined to become a geologist! I got interested in geology as
a kid from minerals and fossils my part-time prospector father had around the
house. While getting a B.Sc. degree in geology from the Department of Geology and
Geophysics at the University of Utah, I was shown some detrital minerals a
prospector had found on anthills in Wyoming. I identified them as kimberlitic
indicator minerals and their origin became the subject of my M.Sc. This got me
involved in the first diamond exploration rush in North America as an
exploration geologist, then as a research scientist in South Africa for the Department of
Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town. I was also interested
in big picture geology and obtained a Ph.D. from the Department of Geosciences
at the University of Arizona, studying Re-Os ages of mineralization for base
metal porphyry deposits in southwestern North America. Along the way I obtained
an excellent collection of samples from the Bushveld Complex, South Africa and completed
Re-Os isotopic research on this deposit as well. Finnigan-MAT provided some
post-doctoral support on laser ablation ICP-MS, which led to a number of ore
deposit studies using this instrumentation, and to a stint as Research
Scientist for the Center
for Mineral Resources, a collaboration between the Department of
Geosciences and the USGS.
A second diamond rush in North America began in the early 90’s and I consulted for
the diamond exploration industry, and am featured in the book Barren Lands. In 2000, I
accepted the position of Chief Mineralogist for Ashton Mining of Canada, a diamond exploration company based
in Vancouver, but continue to enjoy my association with the University of
Arizona as an Adjunct Professor in Geosciences.
I am fortunate to be able to continue research while in Vancouver, and
presently co-supervise M.Sc. graduate students through the Mineral Deposits Research Unit at the
University of British Columbia, where I serve on the Board of Directors. Papers
dealing with diamonds, kimberlite and the mantle also continue to get published
(see CV and publications). My passion at present is to look
at the mantle through ‘hydrothermal eyes’, that is, to consider that mantle
processes are driven by a fluid component, rather than by igneous processes
alone.